Impacted by shale boom in USA, Latin American taps buyers in India and China

29-Jan-14

As the United States reduces its dependence on imports amid a boom in shale oil, Latin American exporters are getting coerced to tap buyers as far away as China and India - markets growing enough to soak up their surplus supplies, as per Reuters. The Latin American crudes are often heavy grades, which, without elaborate refining, tend to produce higher quantities of low-value products such as fuel oil, used to run ships' engines. India's state-run refiners are snapping up Latin American oil after upgrading their plants, reaping the benefit of cheap prices for crudes that have lost their market in the United States to shale oil. India is the world's fourth-biggest buyer of crude and 80% of its needs are met by imports, making cheap supplies crucial.